Practical school studies

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Practical school studies

The practical school studies serve as an introduction to teaching. They relate to pedagogical and subject-specific as well as didactic, socio-cultural and methodological issues of industrial-technical teaching.

The 1st SPS, which you complete in the Bachelor's phase during the lecture-free period, offers the opportunity to apply the skills acquired at university in a practical phase.

The 2nd SPS, which is part of the Master's degree program, focuses on deepening subject-specific didactic skills and thus offers the opportunity to plan and implement industrial-technical lessons independently. These SPS are completed during the semester.

Aims of the SPS

Students should learn...

  • to initiate the role change from former pupils to future teachers with the support of mentors and educational staff at the University of Kassel.
  • to relate educational and didactic findings to the reality of teaching.
  • to make a well-founded assessment of the possibilities and limits of teaching with regard to their own individual personality. From this, they should initiate the first development steps towards a (self-)conscious teacher personality.

In accompanying university courses, students reflect on the experiences they have gained in schools. Reference is also made to scientific theories and findings. In this way, theory and practice are closely linked and made mutually useful.

Practical School Studies I and II - Vocational Education

Practical School Studies I - Business Education

Organization and procedure

The Practical School Studies I are part of the core study program and in this sense are not to be seen as a didactic course, but primarily have the task of giving students an initial insight into the school system. They are also intended to initiate the role change from pupil to teacher.

In order to enable students to take these steps, the course is very comprehensive and consists of a preparatory seminar, a block placement and a follow-up seminar. The follow-up seminar is largely carried out as an accompanying seminar during the block internship in order to ensure the temporal proximity to the internship.

Semester

Lecture period:
2 SWS preparatory seminar:

  • Preparation of the block internship
  • Students organize an internship independently

Lecture-free period:
2 SWS Follow-up seminar:
The follow-up seminar is held as an accompanying seminar in blocks close in time to the block internship.

5 weeks block internship:

  • Observations at the schools
  • Documentation of lesson observation
  • 2 teaching experiments

Weekly 4-hour seminar sessions to accompany the internship: block day for follow-up work

Unlike in other subject areas, vocational education students are responsible for organizing their own work placement during the preparatory seminar. All district vocational schools located in the North and East Hessian region can be selected. If there are any questions regarding the choice of school, these can be clarified in detail with the internship supervisor during the preparatory seminar.

Registration via HISPOS is necessary before attending the internship. If too many students register for the SPS I Vocational Education in one semester, we may still be able to offer places in one of our colleagues' seminars in Business Education if you register in advance. As the SPS I is part of the core study program and not subject-specific, this is certainly possible.

Contents of the SPS I

The Practical School Studies I are part of the core study program and in this sense are not to be regarded as a subject-specific didactic course, but primarily have the task of providing students with an initial insight into the school system. They are also intended to initiate a change of role from pupil to teacher. The objectives and content of SPS I can be found in the module examination regulations. In particular, the following content is covered during SPS I:

Contents of the preparatory seminar

  • Students develop a self-concept, i.e. they examine their role as a teacher. This may focus on the following questions:
    • How do I see myself as a future teacher?
    • How does society view the job description of a teacher?
    • What expectations are attached to the job profile and which parts of society have which specific expectations?
    • Is it even possible and necessary to meet the expectations of others in the teaching profession?
    • Why is it so important to take a close look at the role of the teacher in the course of teacher training?
  • The students deal with the topic of lesson observation. The following questions are up for discussion:
    • What is the aim of classroom observation?
    • What does observation mean from a scientific point of view?
    • What observation criteria are there?
    • Which are useful and expedient for lesson observation in SPS I?
    • How can lesson observations be documented?
  • Students plan lessons and deal with various topics in this context:
    • Reading curricula and correctly working out competencies and content.
    • Formulate competencies.
    • Selecting content and organizing the timeline.
    • Selecting and critically reflecting on methods.
    • Developing learning situations (especially for dual training occupations).
    • Think through possibilities for individualization and use them in a targeted manner where possible.
  • An attempt will be made to plan and carry out an excursion in each cycle. This can lead to different locations and will be selected together with the students, where possible.

Contents of the block internship

Over a period of five weeks, students are given the opportunity to observe and independently conduct lessons at the placement schools.

There are only a few mandatory requirements for the organization of the internship: Students spend at least four lessons a day in the classroom at the placement school and they conduct a total of two 45-minute lessons.

In addition, there is a lot of freedom as to how the internship can be used. Those who are confident enough can work with the school and colleagues on site to carry out a few substitute lessons. Students can take part in conferences, further training, excursions or other school life events and are welcome to help organize these in consultation with the school mentors and the internship supervisor from the University of Kassel.

Students should gain as deep an insight as possible into the everyday life of teachers. As a rule, this is not possible if the students do not get involved in the whole of school life and everyday life in the staff room beyond the hop sessions.

In addition, students choose a pedagogical focus topic for the duration of the block internship, which they later work on as part of the final report. This involves keeping an eye on the topic during the internship, interviewing teachers or conducting surveys in the classroom. The choice of topics can be as varied as the students and the internship schools.

Contents of the accompanying and follow-up seminar

The follow-up seminar, which formally only takes place in the lecture period after the block internship, is usually started in 4-hour blocks parallel to the block internship. This has the advantage that questions about the internship, problems at the internship schools or very specific questions about the design of the teaching experiments can be clarified personally with the internship supervisors and in the seminar group.

In particular, the parallel organization of the accompanying seminar offers the great advantage that all impressions from the internship are still fresh and can be discussed very promptly with the seminar group. This offers the rare opportunity to directly link practice and theory. On the one hand, the experience is still very close and on the other hand, you can discuss various issues of everyday school life in the seminar group in a distanced and theory-based manner.

The content of the accompanying seminar focuses on the following areas:

  • Discussion of the topics brought in by the students from their everyday work placement
  • Designing lesson plans
  • Selection of suitable pedagogical focus topics
  • Form and content of the final report

Assessment of the SPS I

Coursework:

  • Submission of a written self-concept
  • Submission of a self-prepared observation sheet

Completion of internship:

  • 100 hours block internship, at least 4 hours / day at the internship school, proof through observation protocols and internship certificate from the school management
  • Carrying out two 45-minute teaching experiments and joint reflection with the internship supervisor

Examination performance:

  • Submission of a complete SPS report by the deadline

Contacts to possible SPS I internship schools

In the following locations in North and East Hesse, you will find internship schools that have the status of a district vocational school and offer metal, automotive and/or electrical engineering in addition to various other vocational fields.

  • Alsfeld
  • Bad Arolsen
  • Bad Hersfeld
  • Bad Wildungen
  • Bebra
  • Eschwege
  • Frankenberg
  • Fritzlar
  • Fulda
  • Hofgeismar
  • Homberg
  • Hünfeld
  • Kirchhain
  • Korbach
  • Lauterbach
  • Melsungen
  • Schlüchtern
  • Schwalmstadt
  • Witzenhausen
  • Wolfhagen

This list does not claim to be complete.

Database of vocational schools in Hesse: The database of vocational schools in Hesse can be found on the Hessian education server. There you have access to various contact options for the schools. You will find brief information on occupational fields, email addresses, telephone numbers or school websites. You can also use various filters when searching for schools:

dms-schule.bildung.hessen.de/suchen/suche_schul_bs_db.html

Practical school studies 1 (Bachelor)

The subject examination regulations for Business Education stipulate the completion of practical school studies as module 10 in the core educational and social science course. There are currently 2 different options for completing this compulsory module, which are described below.

1 SPS 1 Internship in normal form

The internship in the normal form includes seminar and internship periods. These periods are not to be arranged chronologically. The following diagram is intended to provide a better understanding.

Seminar time

UNI approx. 40 hours

Internship time

School approx. 100 hours

Description

The seminar time is divided into a seminar during the semester as well as a preparatory and follow-up seminar and accompanying seminars during the internship phase (4 SWS).

The school internship is completed at a vocational school in the city or district of Kassel. A choice of school location is made via the course directory.

Contents

The first practical school studies are intended as an orientation internship and should provide the opportunity to reflect competently on the intended professional career.

In the preparatory, follow-up and accompanying seminars, important topics relating to the profession of a teacher are dealt with.

The preparation of a self-concept is seen as a central starting point for further professional development. Here, students describe the reasons for their career decision and reflect on what they have already achieved or still have to achieve on their path. To this end, they work out important details of the teaching profession and reflect on them.

During the internship phase, initial observations and practical experiences can be presented and reflected upon in the accompanying events.

Seminar participation is compulsory and cannot be replaced by other achievements. Active participation is required.

At the end of SPS 1, a clear decision should be made for or against a further professional career as a teacher.

During the internship phase (5 weeks before the Easter or fall vacations in Hesse), students get to know the school operations step by step with the help of contact persons at the internship schools and get to know the school location in its various areas.

They are instructed to carry out their first teaching experiments. To this end, they initially accompany experienced colleagues into the classroom (observation) and make professionally substantiated lesson observations. Smaller parts of the lessons can already be taken over here.

Based on the preparation in the seminar period and with the help of colleagues on site, the students create their own lesson plans and carry out these lessons independently and reflect on their own performance with the help of the pedagogical assistant at the University of Kassel and, if necessary, the teacher at the internship school. The pedagogical assistant advises the student.

The students assess their own competencies, recognize deficits and describe necessary learning content for their further course of study.

The findings from the internship are presented and processed in an internship report.

 

2 SPS 1 Internship cooperation form

The internship in the cooperation form includes seminar, cooperation and internship periods. These periods are not to be arranged chronologically. The following presentation is intended to provide a better understanding.

Seminar time

UNI approx. 40 hours

Cooperation time

ca. 40 hours

Internship time

School approx. 60 hours

Description

The seminar time is divided into block seminars to prepare for the cooperation and internship period as well as weekly accompanying seminars during the cooperation phase and a follow-up / evaluation event (4 SWS).

During the cooperation period, students take part in the introductory phase of the Kassel study seminar for teachers in the preparatory service (LiV). This period is supervised by a pedagogical assistant and the subject leaders of the Studienseminar Kassel.

The school internship is completed at the cooperation school. It is not possible to choose another school.

Contents

For the content of the seminar period in cooperation form, the information on the seminar period of the internship in normal form applies.

In addition to this, emphasis is placed on the topic of giving and accepting feedback, as the students in the cooperation phase should record and evaluate the group processes in their teaching team by observing the work and teaching processes and contribute to the working group in the form of constructive feedback.

This should make the structure of planning and teaching processes transparent and show which ideas initiate and accompany the planning and implementation of lessons. In this way, students and trainee teachers should learn to reflect on work processes. The aim is to maintain positive, competent patterns of behavior and to reflect on and change critical behavior.

The cooperation period begins with a joint kick-off event (in May or November), the aim of which is for the students and trainee teachers to get to know each other and form teams.

The school partners are organized by the Studienseminar Kassel and are predetermined. There is no selection process.

The cooperation teams then plan lessons together, carry them out and reflect on them with the support of a subject leader from the Studienseminar or pedagogical staff from the University of Kassel in a subsequent debriefing every week on Thursdays on 5-6 dates.

The main task of the students is to provide useful feedback. They can later use the findings from this phase for their own internship by using them for their own planning and teaching processes.

For the content of the internship period in cooperation form, the information on the internship period of the internship in normal form applies.

In addition to this, the following applies: during the placement period, students remain at their placement school from the cooperation period and then complete a school placement there.

Possibilities:

- weekly attendance time and block form

- Block form

These forms vary according to their location throughout the year. It is up to the pedagogical staff member to decide which form is offered. It cannot be freely chosen. The most favorable option for the students is selected.

 

After completing the internship, a final event takes place, which is used to evaluate the seminar and internship time (normal form) or the seminar, cooperation and internship time (cooperation form). Any unanswered questions can be clarified at this event. In addition, the formal and content-related criteria for the internship report are discussed and a binding deadline (usually 4 weeks after the last event) for submission is agreed.

The report must be submitted by the deadline both in digital form as a pdf file and in bound form.

You will receive more detailed explanations from the responsible pedagogical staff member.

Organization and procedure

The School Practical Studies IIa are part of the Master's program and are designed as a subject-didactically oriented seminar with a semester-long school internship. In addition to the SPS IIa, which is carried out in the vocational subject area, the SPS IIb, which is organized by the departments of the respective general education subjects, must also be completed as part of the Master's program.

The School Practical Studies IIa as a subject didactic seminar focus in particular on the design of lessons from the perspective of the didactics of technology. The main focus is on observing technology lessons in the context of observation, conducting lessons oneself and critically reflecting on one's own actions with a view to the demands of scientifically based technology didactics.

In contrast to the School Practical Studies I, the internship is designed to accompany the semester. While the SPS I aims to provide an initial overview of school, the School Practical Studies IIa have a different goal: The students are given the opportunity to observe and help shape a developing teaching process in a class with a teacher over a longer period of time.

The selection of the internship school is made by the students themselves, if possible. For this purpose, an appointment is made each semester before the start of the lecture period, at which the schools can introduce themselves on site. For this purpose, registration in advance via HiSPos is essential. The selection of the internship school by the students is then usually made according to their own chosen professional focus, e.g. metal technology industry, metal technology trade, vehicle technology professions, training professions in electrical engineering, full-time school for electrical engineering, etc.

Students are responsible for organizing their own internship. The internship can currently only be carried out at a vocational school in Kassel.

Lecture period

2 SWS accompanying seminar:

  • Preparation and supervision of the internship
  • Advice for the students for their own teaching design
  • various topics according to the module regulations and in consultation with the students

2 teaching hours / week internship:

  • semester-long school internship
  • Hospitations
  • Planning and co-designing lessons

Contents of SPS IIa

As in SPS I, SPS IIa begins with an examination of the student's own self-concept. This will be reconsidered and initially fixed. In addition, right at the beginning there is an assessment of one's own competencies as a teacher, which have certainly developed further since the last internship. Based on this assessment, all students set concrete goals for SPS IIa. 

Unlike School Practicum I, the practicum is designed to be semester-long. While the SPS I is about providing a first all-round view of school, the Schulpraktische Studien IIa have a different goal: The students get the opportunity to observe and help shape a developing teaching process in a class, with a teacher over a longer time frame.

In addition to the main content described above, the seminar tries to pay special attention to the content suggested by the students. In most cases, these result from the analysis of the students' own competencies.

Topics that have been dealt with repeatedly in terms of content in the past years were, for example

  • legal issues, e.g. school form regulations, design of professions according to §66 BBiG, etc.
  • Writing lesson plans
  • Methods in technology teaching
  • Planning of long-term learning arrangements in technology lessons
  • Preparation of a learning field
  • Integration of pre-prepared materials into the lessons, critical examination of the teaching materials, possibilities of optimization and integration

Assessment of SPS IIa

Course Credits:

  • Submission of a self-concept formulated in writing.
  • Submission of a self-prepared observation sheet.

Practicum implementation:

  • 2 lessons per week in a class, observing with a teacher over the entire period of the lecture period and helping to design the lessons, proof through observation logs and internship certificate from the school management
  • Carrying out two teaching experiments of 45 minutes each and joint reflection with the internship supervisor.

Examination performance:

  • Timely submission of a complete SPS report

Contacts to possible internship schools of SPSIIa

The School Practical Studies IIa are currently only carried out at vocational schools in Kassel. Corresponding technical subjects are offered in Kassel by the schools of the Vocational School Center II and the state vocational school of the Berufsbildungswerk.

Max Eyth School
Oskar-von-Miller School

State school in the vocational training center:

Homepage vocational school
Homepage vocational training center Bathildisheim